If you thought a temptation was actually mortal sin, and fail to confess it. Did you sin?

[Angel7]

This was a past sin/situation which I happened to remember this morning. I need a defenitive answer so I can gain some peace. I once had a temptation or thought which I believed was mortal sin, just before confession. I failed to confess it I believe, because I was ashamed. I then realized afterwards that the thought was not mortal, but probably a temptation, I was quite sure of that.

What should I have done?

 

[thistle]

This was a past sin/situation which I happened to remember this morning. I need a defenitive answer so I can gain some peace. I once had a temptation or thought which I believed was mortal sin, just before confession. I failed to confess it I believe, because I was ashamed. I then realized afterwards that the thought was not mortal, but probably a temptation, I was quite sure of that.

What should I have done?

For a sin to be mortal three conditions have to be met:

• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

If you know something is of grave matter and you go ahead anyway and commit the act then you commit a mortal sin.

If you know something is of venial matter then committing the act is not a mortal sin.

However, if you think something is of grave matter when in reality it is of venial matter and you go ahead and commit the act then you have committed a mortal sin because thinking it is of grave matter satisfies the first condition.

 

[TrueLight]

For a sin to be mortal three conditions have to be met:

• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

If you know something is of grave matter and you go ahead anyway and commit the act then you commit a mortal sin.

If you know something is of venial matter then committing the act is not a mortal sin.

However, if you think something is of grave matter when in reality it is of venial matter and you go ahead and commit the act then you have committed a mortal sin because thinking it is of grave matter satisfies the first condition.

Good concise explanation!

OP, regarding having peace, the best way to get some peace, is to go to confession and confess what you just confessed to us now, instead of agonizing over “what ifs”.

These kinds of agonies and doubts are common ploys of the Devil.

 

[Julia_Mae]

This was a past sin/situation which I happened to remember this morning. I need a defenitive answer so I can gain some peace. I once had a temptation or thought which I believed was mortal sin, just before confession. I failed to confess it I believe, because I was ashamed. I then realized afterwards that the thought was not mortal, but probably a temptation, I was quite sure of that.

What should I have done?

Well, the best advice is to take this to confession of course, but, I am confused.

Are you saying that something you* thought about* is the sin? Not that you did something, but that you thought about doing something, and you believe thinking about it is the sin? Or did you mean you remembered something you actually did?

 

[JRKH]

What should you have done? You should have confessed it.
Your “shame” then, has resulted in your loss of peace now. A lesson to be learned for all of us.

What should you do now? Take this matter to Christ in prayer and also to your confessor where you can be more open and specific. Then follow his advice and regain your peace.

No one here can answer you with surety and so no matter what we tell you, your peace will not be restored until you go to confession.

Peace
James

 

[VivienneJ]

I may be completely wrong here, but I thought you didn’t have to confess the temptations (thoughts) that you didn’t act upon; I thought you only had to confess the things you had done that were sinful; or times you didn’t do something you ought to have done.

 

[Bookcat]

I may be completely wrong here, but I thought you didn’t have to confess the temptations (thoughts) that you didn’t act upon; I thought you only had to confess the things you had done that were sinful; or times you didn’t do something you ought to have done.

I do not think the person is speaking of such.

(And it is important to note that one can sin in ones thoughts. Such as giving consent to interior lustful thoughts.)

The other person should bring this to their confessor.

 

[EasterJoy]

It is the act of withholding something you believed to be a serious sin was a serious sin. Yes, confess that.

If you willfully did something that you believed to be seriously sinful, that is a serious sin. If, however, you imputed an involuntary thought to your own will when you did not in fact will to think the thought, the thought isn’t a sin just because you believe your thinking is always in your control.

For instance, if you believe that you chose to do something that was objectively an accident, your guilt over the incident doesn’t make it into a moral transgression.

Learn to look at your guilt feelings as a kind of a smoke alarm. When guilt goes off, investigate whether there is a “fire” to be put out: that is, a sin to repent of. If guilt is not “going off,” though, that does not mean it is safe to conclude there must be no fire! Rather, you need to inspect your choices with an informed conscience, and use that as the basis to decide when you need to repent.

 

[JRKH]

I may be completely wrong here, but I thought you didn’t have to confess the temptations (thoughts) that you didn’t act upon; I thought you only had to confess the things you had done that were sinful; or times you didn’t do something you ought to have done.

What Bookcat said is correct. It is important to recognize that to “act on” a temptation does not require a “physical” act. Acting upon a temptation can also be consciously choosing to dwell on and encourage sinful thoughts (lust, anger, revenge and such). In other words fantasizing about committing a sin is in itself sinful, while a random, unbidden thought is not.

Peace
James

 

[mdgspencer]

This isn’t a simple yes or no question. You should go to confession again and tell this the priest, which will deal with this instance.
It isn’t a simple yes or no question because for one thing if a person is scrupulous, this adds a further question about the matter. The original poster did not say if he is scrupulous or not.

 

[Angel7]

I did confess it the next time, but the Priest did not ask for any details about it I only said something like “I thought I had commited a mortal sin just before confession and failed to confess it”. He didn’t even ask what the thoought was however, when confessing aren’t we supposed to be less generic? It could have been a violent thought or a lustful thought, but he only asked me if I wanted to go in further detail, and I said I didn’t want to.

 

[JRKH]

I did confess it the next time, but the Priest did not ask for any details about it I only said something like “I thought I had commited a mortal sin just before confession and failed to confess it”. He didn’t even ask what the thoought was however, when confessing aren’t we supposed to be less generic? It could have been a violent thought or a lustful thought, but he only asked me if I wanted to go in further detail, and I said I didn’t want to.

Sounds like he offered you the opportunity to explain further but you chose not to. It is not his job to “extract” these things from the penitent. It is up to the penitent to confess them.

Peace
James

 

[Bookcat]

What Bookcat said is correct. It is important to recognize that to “act on” a temptation does not require a “physical” act. Acting upon a temptation can also be consciously choosing to dwell on and encourage sinful thoughts (lust, anger, revenge and such). In other words fantasizing about committing a sin is in itself sinful, while a random, unbidden thought is not.

Peace
James

“a random unbidden thought is not”…unless of course one gives consent knowingly.

Here too is a summary of the kinds of sins from the Catechism:

"Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. the root of sin is in the heart of man,** in his free will**, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man.“128 But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.”

As to the original person post…I would recommend her bringing the whole question to her confessor …and discussing it with him. He can guide her in confession and knows her.

 

[JRKH]

“a random unbidden thought is not”…unless of course one gives consent knowingly.

At which point such consent transforms the “random unbidden”, nature of the thought into something “bidden”, that is accepted and encouraged.

Consider - this analogy -
You hear a knock at your door. (unbidden thought)
You open the door you see Sin standing there. (recognition that the thought is sinful)
Do you
a) Slam the door immediately? (reject the thought)
b) or leave the door open for sin to enter your house? (accept the thought)

Here too is a summary of the kinds of sins from the Catechism:

"Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate. They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission. the root of sin is in the heart of man,** in his free will**, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man.“128 But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds.”

As to the original person post…I would recommend her bringing the whole question to her confessor …and discussing it with him. He can guide her in confession and knows her.

The perfect solution to this matter.

Peace
James

 

[Angel7]

Sounds like he offered you the opportunity to explain further but you chose not to. It is not his job to “extract” these things from the penitent. It is up to the penitent to confess them.

Peace
James

Does this failure to fully confess my sins mean my Confession wasn’t valid?
at the time I thought my confessor knew I was speaking of somethign that was mortal sin or grave matter. I didn’t want to go into more detail then I had to, and I thought it was okay since my confessor didn’t ask for what the sin was about. Normally we confess the nature of a sin (was it violent, lustful, etc…) he only asked me if I wanted to, so I thought it was okay to not speak of it other than just saying “I thought I had sinned mortally, but didn’t, and failed to confess my “non-Mortal” sin when in confession the last time”

 

[JRKH]

Does this failure to fully confess my sins mean my Confession wasn’t valid?
at the time I thought my confessor knew I was speaking of something that was mortal sin or grave matter. I didn’t want to go into more detail then I had to, and I thought it was okay since my confessor didn’t ask for what the sin was about. Normally we confess the nature of a sin (was it violent, lustful, etc…) he only asked me if I wanted to, so I thought it was okay to not speak of it other than just saying “I thought I had sinned mortally, but didn’t, and failed to confess my “non-Mortal” sin when in confession the last time”

In such matters we are to be guided by our confessor. It seems as though you were. I see nothing here that would lead me to say that your confession was invalid.

However - as a matter of advancing in holiness and humility before God, you might wish to contemplate on why you are hesitant to fully confess your sins in the privacy of the confessional.

Peace
James

 

[wayman]

This was a past sin/situation which I happened to remember this morning. I need a defenitive answer so I can gain some peace. I once had a temptation or thought which I believed was mortal sin, just before confession. I failed to confess it I believe, because I was ashamed. I then realized afterwards that the thought was not mortal, but probably a temptation, I was quite sure of that.

What should I have done?

Even if your thought was a temptation and not a mortal sin then the mortal sin would be the fact that by withholding what you believed to be a mortal sin from the priest in confession you didn’t trust in the mercy of God. But if the thought was actually a mortal sin and not just a temptation then there would be two mortal sins involved. Either way, if one is in this situation they should go back to confession and confess these things and trust in the mercy of God.

I personally believe that the point at which a temptation to commit a mortal sin becomes an actual mortal sin is the point when a person makes a conscious decision that they are in fact going to act on the wicked thought. Whether they end up following through with it or not, the plan to do it was in place. An analogy is if someone plans to rob a bank and has all the plans in place to do it. But on the day they had planned to do it they notice a cop parked in front of the bank, so out of fear of getting caught they decide not to do it. That would be a mortal sin since they had every intention to follow through with the sin but for whatever reason were prevented from carrying it out.

 

[Angel7]

What does it mean to “Trust in the Mercy of God”?

I believe that The Lord can forgive any and all sins.
But when I’m confessing my sins in Confession, the more strange sins, etc… (I used to have scrupulousity and still might have it) I would be very ashamed to mention them.
With Scrupulousity, most “sins” you accuse yourself of seem to be thoughts, correct? Well, if my mind trailed off into the realms of extreme violence or any other type of horrifying sin, instead of seeing it as a random thought, I’d see it as actual sin. I’d see myself as guilty of it. Confessing such thoughts are extremely hard for people that go through what I went through. Because they’re very strange, or horrifyingly wrong.

One time, I believe during the beginning stages of my scrupulousity, I battled through what I think may have been hours of fighting off thoughts. ofcourse the thoughts managed to enter my mind, and when it did, its very presence in my mind convinced me that I had sinned. So the entire walk home from school was a mental WW3…

Confession used to be hard for me. I think I’ve improved however.

 

[underacloud]

If your confessor absolved you, then you can assume that he is satisfied with the detail you have provided. The fact that it was a thought and not a mortal sin (as you described to him) means that there is no obligation to go into the details. Your confessor may be recognising your tendency towards scrupulousity, and so has avoided laboring on these particular thoughts/temptations as though they were serious sins.

But as others have addressed, you should give some consideration to why you hesitate in the confessional. It is a place of safety and of healing. It is not a place to hold anything back, whether out of guilt, shame, or feeling unsure. Be honest and open, so that you can free yourself of doubt, and so that your confessor can advise you properly on dealing with your particular temptations and sins.

God bless.